[TriLUG] OT: URGENT: H.129 to be heard in Thursday's Finance Committee!

[matt at noway2.thruhere.net]

Very well stated.

Now, here is another question, what can we do about this?

The response I received from my representative (Guilford County) who
happens to be on the committee, was that my concerns would be taken into
consideration.  In other words, he didn't see a contribution check along
with my letter.

One good thing to remember about legislation is that it CAN be repealed. 
This pile may pass, but that doesn't mean it will remain.

> On 03/15/2011 10:12 AM, David Burton wrote:
>
>> If you want to let cities abuse their authority to stomp out private
>> competition, then go ahead and oppose this bill. I don't. That's why I
>> support HB-129.
>
> To say that this will kill competition is unfair and not true. The
> majority of markets don't have any real competition, so there's nothing
> to kill :) This bill would make it harder for them to not only have
> competition, but even access to high-speed internet in some areas.
>
> But basically it comes down to this: Is it time for high-speed internet
> to become infrastructure like roads, water, power, gas, trash pickup, etc.
>
> There's a lot of room for disagreement on this point, but I think the
> answer is yes. If a local government can provide a high standard of
> service for a better and lower rate than existing telecoms (which I
> think Wilson is a great example that they can) then I think that
> strengthens the argument.
>
> Public libraries haven't killed book stores. The US Postal Service
> hasn't killed FedEx or UPS. Providing a base infrastructure for citizens
> so that businesses can thrive is, I believe a good function for
> government.
>
> I believe we have reached the point where high-speed internet is an
> infrastructure commodity and the more we let companies like AT&T or TWC
> control that infrastructure and prevent communities from trying to
> provide that service to their citizens the more we will fall behind
> countries that don't have such strong telecom lobbies.
>